It had been twenty-five years since I had had a dog. After being alone for 15 years, I decided it was time to have a companion. But there was a problem. Since I am allergic to dogs I thought I had very few choices and those choices just weren’t really compatible for many reasons. Then I discovered the Goldendoodle!

As soon as I made the decision to get a Goldendoodle, I decided I wanted him to be a Therapy Dog. Through our local hospital, I found Animal Assisted Therapy. Before Rufus even started the formal training program, I was working with him toward our goal. I work for the local library and part of my job is to run the semi-annual book sale. Soon after I brought Rufus home, we were in the middle of getting ready for the book sale. With the permission of our library director, I took Rufus to the library with me. He spent a whole week at the library, sometimes 12 hours a day. He was just 12 weeks old and a real hit with everyone and of course that was great training for his future job as a Therapy Dog. He has now become the official mascot of the Friends of Handley Regional Library and the book sale. Some people come to the book sale just to see Rufus. He has become so comfortable at the Library, he is even learning to read!

Animal Assisted Therapy interviews the dog and the handler separately to determine if both personalities are compatible with the goals of the program. Luckily we both passed. Rufus and I started our classes in October 2008. We worked really hard paying attention in class and doing our homework. It is normally a 2 year training program. Testing is done once a year in June. In order to be considered for testing, a dog must have a minimum of one year of training and be at least 18 months old. Rufus met both requirements in June and we decided to test him. He passed with flying colors! (That is a direct quote from the examiner.) The Goldendoodle is such an eager to please dog. He was just a real joy to train. The training is ongoing and the dogs are re-tested every year and are required to attend additional training sessions each year.

Animal Assisted Therapy is sponsored by Winchester Medical Center. Graduates visit patients in the hospital and actually participate in physical therapy with the patients. We visit Pediatrics, Behavioral Health, Oncology, and Rehabilitation. When Rufus and I go to the hospital for visits, it takes us forever to get to our department. Everyone (including doctors, nurses, and volunteers) wants to stop and pet Rufus and of course he loves the attention.

Rufus is not only a very well trained dog, he is just an absolute sweetheart. He loves people and attention and people love him. I keep his coat very natural. He is a very straight hair doodle and without being trimmed, he looks like the “shaggy dog.” He reminds everyone of some Disney dog. Of course it does take a lot of extra grooming, but I think it is worth it. Rufus is one of those dogs that people just can’t resist. It is especially rewarding when we walk into a patient’s room and see their eyes light up.

While Rufus was still in training, I thought it would be fun to have a special Christmas card and Easter card. For Christmas, I put him in a Santa hat and for Easter, he had bunny ears. I couldn’t believe he posed so well for the photos. After Rufus graduated, I thought about how stressful it is for patients to be in the hospital over holidays. Since Rufus did so well with the photos, I decided to try putting him in costumes for our holiday visits to the hospital. For Halloween, I put him in a pumpkin suit and he was terrific. Actually I think he likes the extra attention. He seems to know he looks really cute. Pediatrics especially liked the “Great Pumpkin”. Now for the Christmas Season, it was really difficult to decide if he should be a reindeer or Santa. I ended up choosing both, so now we make extra visits so he can wear both costumes. It was a good decision. Rufus was a big hit in both outfits. It’s really hard to say which one was better. He brings a lot of smiles to a lot of people - especially me!